Flowered Daddy
by Valtiatar
Summary: Sesshy lets Rin go surprisingly far with her ideas. And small children have lots of ideas, not all of them so flattering to the one playing a guardian. Series of oneshots where Sesshy plays daddy. Just how much flowers can one handle? Extreme fluffiness..
1. Flowered Daddy

Flowered Daddy

"I can't believe this."

"I don't think anyone can, Kagome."

"So you are seeing the same thing as I do, Sango."

"Yes" Sango nodded still amazed.

"We have to get Inuyasha. He has to see this too."

"No way! He'll notice us."

"He should have noticed us by now, so we might as well get Inuyasha and others here too. They are never going to believe us otherwise!"

"True, but he might be more sensitive to Inuyasha's scent."

"I don't care even if he sees us. Inuyasha _has_ to see this!"

"He's going to kill us if he knows we are seeing this! Even more certainly if Inuyasha is here."

"This is something worth dying for, Sango", Kagome stated and left to get Inuyasha and Miroku.

The scene they were witnessing was most certainly something they had never ever expected, or even imagined, to see. The one they were looking at was no other than the great lord of the western lands, lord Sesshoumaru in his all glory. It just happened to be so that he was not quite as glorious as they were used to see him to be.

When Miroku and Inuyasha arrived to Sango and Kagome's hiding place in the bushes, their reaction was very close to that what Sango had been afraid of. Kagome had to put both of her hands on Inuyasha's mouth to silence his laughter so that they would stay unnoticed. Miroku on the other hand knew he should be quiet but his face told it all. First he was shocked and then his face showed sheer amusement.

"Why doesn't he notice that we are here? Shouldn't he at least smell us?"

"Nah, those flowers stink so badly that even I can't smell us", Inuyasha huffed when he pushed Kagome's hands away. "My dear brother's sense of smell is even better than mine so I would imagine he feels rather sick right now."

"But why on earth he doesn't do something about it then?" Kagome wondered.

"I have no idea…" Sango said shaking her head.

Sesshoumaru was sitting under a big three in the middle of a small forest meadow. That was not so weird. Sitting under a three in the middle of a forest can be very relaxing, but Sesshoumaru seemed to have a problem. He was surrounded by flowers.

Those flowers were very pretty and there were a lot of them, different kinds and colors. Those beautiful flowers also had a very nice smell, to a human nose that is. But for a demon like Sesshoumaru the smell of them (especially so many of them) was much too strong. It caused him to sneeze every once in awhile.

His sneezes were barely audible. He actually looked like he tried very hard to hide them. His covering did not have the wanted result though, because a bunch of humans (and a one half demon) could hear, and see, them while hiding in the bushes. Miroku thought that those little sneezes sounded similar to those that true ladies make so they will not embarrass themselves by making too much noise. In Inuyasha's head that translated to: "Sesshoumaru sneezed like a girl". That, of course, made him laugh again.

The weirdest thing about the flowers was not that they were there. Many meadows grow flowers and if the smell bothers the one sitting there, the person can always move. The weirdest thing was, however, that Sesshoumaru did not move. You see, these flowers did not grow on the ground; they were quite literally all around and over Sesshoumaru. He was sitting there covered in flowers sneezing and looking like he was not even going to move. He did not look happy though. It was most certainly behavior considered as peculiar.

Then a little girl ran from the forest holding a new punch of flowers in her hand. She looked very happy. Green grass tickled her bare feet as she ran. She had green stains on her kimono, probably because of sitting in the grass. She had a huge smile across her face and her big brown eyes shone like two midday suns sparkling with childish enjoyment. Right behind her ran a toad like demon who was the total opposite of everything just mentioned.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! Look what I found! These flowers are even prettier than the last ones", the little girl said happily and showed the bunch of flowers to Sesshoumaru, who looked completely indifferent.

"I'll put them here", the girl continued and placed the flowers so that they stuck out of Sesshoumaru's armor. That is to say they were quite close to his nose.

Just when the girl was about to ran off again, Sesshoumaru spoke for the first time. "Rin."

"Yes Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"That is enough."

"Yes Lord Sesshoumaru" Rin said obediently and walked back to the flower covered demon.

The poor toad was so exhausted for running all day with the child that he fell down to the ground relieved he did not have to run anymore. At the moment his head touched the soft grass he was already asleep.

Unfortunately eight-year-olds do not get so easily tired. After arranging the flowers on Sesshoumaru again and again in so many different ways it was impossible to come up with anything new, she began to slide her fingers through Sesshoumaru's hair.

"Lord Sesshoumaru?"

Sesshoumaru did not answer. He just kept sitting still like a statue without even a slightest change in his expression. Rin took this as a sign to continue since she was not told to be quiet.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, can I comb your hair?"

Again, no answer, so Rin did as she pleased and started to comb Sesshoumaru's hair that most certainly did not need any combing what so ever. All the time she babbled and giggled nonstop and Sesshoumaru did not react.

Untangling a hair that has not got any tangles can be a rather boring task, so after awhile Rin got bored with it. For some time the little girl examined the long white hair very carefully with all her concentration like she was trying to figure out something very important.

First very carefully, and then with more confidence, she began to roll long strands of hair around her finger. When she had a small bun in her hand, she took a flower and stuck it through the hair so that the flower's stem held the small hair roll up. After managing to do that, she made another one and another one until the great demon lord had a wreath around his head.

Because Sesshoumaru had a lot of hair in his head, Rin was very pleased to see that there was still something to work on. And so, she made two very beautiful braids on each side of Sesshoumaru's head. After finishing this task she circled the demon few times to make sure her work of art was perfect.

All this time Sesshoumaru sat still without saying a word or making any other sound either.

Just when Rin decided her work there was done, a few birds flew from one tree to another singing very beautifully. She looked up to the sky but instead of the birds it was the clouds that captured her interest. She told to Sesshoumaru that it was a perfect cloud day.

Of course, now that she had mentioned a cloud day, she absolutely had to tell him what a perfect cloud day was. Apparently day is like that when there are lots of pretty white puffy clouds on the sky. Those kinds of clouds are very interesting, because they can tell stories. Like now there was definitely going on a story about a rabbit chasing a mouse. Or was it a cat eating a carrot? Well, it did not really matter, both were very nice and interesting stories, and it would not be fare to the rabbit, or to the cat, if she told Sesshoumaru only one of them. That is why she told him both stories, just to be fare.

She also noticed that Sesshoumaru's "soft and fluffy fur thing" as she called it, looked very similar to the clouds.

But it is a well known fact that the easiest way to watch clouds is to lie on the ground. That way your neck will not hurt later. That is also how Rin watched the clouds, and because of her busy day and so much running she finally fell asleep all her legs and arms pointing at different directions and her hair all messy around her.

Sesshoumaru kept playing statue for a little while longer. After the clouds had told a few other stories as well, he slowly got up and shook the flowers off of him. The he reached up to touch his hair to feel what the little girl had done to him. He shivered a little when the reality hit him. With all the dignity he had, he took the flowers off his hair and undid the braids and small buns. Then he made sure his precious hair was just as silky and _straight _as it should be.

When he had finished this mission, he gathered all the flowers and moved them further away from him sneezing again. Then he walked to the girl lying on the emerald colored grass and as gently as possible he lifted her up and carried to the tree.

He sat to lean against the tree and placed the girl next to him so that she was sleeping against his fur. Then he made sure her bare feet were covered with fur too so that she would not feel cold. After he was sure everything was as it supposed to be, he leaned back and closed his eyes his hand holding a strand of her hair in a gentle grip.

"Aww…" Kagome sighed and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Tell me about it", Sango agreed.

"That cannot be Sesshoumaru. He's just some replacement. Naraku probably poisoned him or something" Inuyasha grumbled.

"It certainly seems that we do not know all about that guy", Miroku mused and started to back away. "We'd better leave before he notices us."

"You're right", Kagome nodded. They left their hiding place as quietly as possible, though Sango and Kagome could not stop whispering about how cute Sesshoumaru and Rin were together. Who would have thought he could be so fatherly?

Under a tree in the middle of a meadow a one demon lord sighed relieved when a bunch of nuisances finally left him alone. "Idiots", he muttered and then smiled just a little bit.

--

--

Hi! I hope you enjoyed it! This is a silly little story I came up with. I just wanted to play wit Sesshy a little. I might do other stories like this as well, I'll just add another chapter if I feel like it. Please please please review!!! I like Sesshy and Rin. Their relationship is so cute (I don't like it romantically...) Anyway, to my new readers, nice to meet you ^^ and to old ones: finally you got to read something like this too ;)

Love, Val


	2. When Daddy Got Worried

When Daddy Got Worried

Jaken was restless and scared as hell. Something was wrong with Rin, and that was probably his fault. Well, at least Sesshoumaru would blame him for it. He was supposed to look after Rin and make sure nothing like this would happen. Ever.

Jaken groaned and hit his head to a tree. Lord Sesshoumaru was going to be so mad! He was already as good as dead!

And what was wrong with the little girl? Jaken did not actually know, but something was definitely out of place. It was very disgusting, really. That could _not_ be natural, even among humans.

There was something coming out of her nose. It was sticky and the color was something between green and yellow. Eww!! Jaken shivered and turned his eyes away from the girl.

The sticky stuff was not the only problem though. She was also coughing and that did _not_ sound good. It was a hacking sound, like she was trying to get rid of her lungs. She was very hot and first red then pale and then red again. Her brown eyes were tired and gloomy and she did not even speak.

That speaking thing was the creepiest of all. Well, of course it was, it was sooo not normal! She always spoke nonstop and drove Jaken crazy with her useless babbling. It was not like Jaken did not appreciate the quietness now that he had some of it, but worrying his ass off because of it sure as hell was not worth it. Not worth it at all. Especially because he was going to get killed. Iik!

The girl was lying beside a tree looking very small and shivering, weak and pathetic. Jaken did not know what to do with her. She was obviously sick somehow but Jaken had no idea how to handle the situation. Had some evil yookai bitten her and poisoned her small body? That was a possibility. However, Jaken had no idea what yookai's poison could cause effects like these ones. Too weird.

Anyway, if it really was yookai's doings and Rin was going to die, Jaken would die as well. Sesshoumaru would kill him for sure. He was supposed to make sure that something exactly like this never happened. No yookai was supposed to get to Rin (except Sesshoumaru, of course…).

Yes, the situation was truly very troublesome.

Jaken's panicking had become even worse and now he was jumping up and down waving his staff around and mumbling something unreasonable. He had to figure out something before Sesshoumaru would come back!

"What are you doing toad?" a cool voice asked from the shadows of the night.

Jaken froze. Oh gods, he was going to DIE!!!

"N-n-n-nothing Lord Sesshoumaru! Ehehe… Nothing at all. Everything is fiii-ine! Nothing wrong with anyone!"

Sesshoumaru stepped out of the shadows and looked at the toad as coldly as always. It was obvious that he was trying to hide something. "Where is Rin?"

Of course Sesshoumaru knew where Rin was. He could smell her from far away and tell her exact location. He just really wanted to see what Jaken tried so hard to hide from him. That always meant that it had something to do with Rin and Sesshoumaru getting mad about it. That toad was so simple minded. He could at least learn how to lie and cover his ass convincingly. This shivering green thing in front of him was just pathetic.

"Rin? What about Rin, Milord?" Jaken's shaky voice asked and nearly failed him.

Sesshoumaru stepped over him and walked to the place where Rin was sleeping restlessly. There was something wrong with her. She did not smell like she was supposed to. There was something strange about it. Her usual flower-like scent was somewhat stifling. Her breathing sounded uneven and hard. Then she began to cough and Sesshoumaru almost – just almost – jumped because of shock.

It sounded terrible! Something was most certainly wrong. Badly. Was she dying? Had something happened? Did someone attack her? Did she have wounds? Poison?

Sesshoumaru swirled around and with one smooth movement he had Jaken in his grip. Poor toad's throat was in a dead grip and he was staring straight at Sesshoumaru's blood colored eyes.

"What happened to her?" Sesshoumaru growled quietly. It was way scarier than shouting would have been. Quiet voice crept into Jaken's bones making him cold inside.

"I don't know Milord, I really don't! I swear no one has touched her! That started last night and it has gotten worse since. It must be some human thing!" Jaken spoke as quickly as he could, trying very hard to save his life with explanations.

Sesshoumaru was not listening though. In his head played thousands of scenarios how things could end and what could happen if he did not come up with some kind of a plan to save her, fast. But even though he would never admit it out loud, he had absolutely no idea how humans _worked_. Their bodies were fragile and easily damaged, not to mention they did not heal fast. Besides, Rin looked even more fragile than most of the humans, being a little girl and all.

Sesshoumaru felt like there was something hollow in his chest. It was rather painful. Empty and suffocating at the same time. It could not be… What was that feeling….? It really could not be…

Was he getting infected?

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly. That was impossible! Sesshoumaru was not the type of person to be infected by the same things as humans. But then again, what was that growing pain in his chest?

Rin coughed again. It was getting louder and every cough was like dagger through Sesshoumaru's system. Incredibly disturbing.

Carelessly and without caring at all he tossed Jaken away. He landed somewhere in the bushes wincing slightly.

Sesshoumaru picked Rin up and hold her carefully in his arms studying her face. She was very pale but her cheeks were red. Her eyes were swollen and she breathed heavily and loudly coughing every few minutes. Her hair that seemed to have a life of its own and was usually in constant disarray was now stuck against her head lifelessly.

Frowning in his thoughts Sesshoumaru lifted himself and the girl in the air. He had to get her fixed, no matter what.

--

--

Inuyasha sighed contently. It was a pleasant evening. Weather was nice and calm and smelled good, just as a summer night should. He was full of great food Kagome had brought from that weird world of hers. It was a perfect time to nap.

Kaede's hut was full of people. Miroku and Sango were talking about something in the corner. Everyone was secretly surprised that Miroku was not trying anything funny. (Thought they were all quite sure Sango did not really mind.) Kagome watched Kirara and Shippoo play and Kaede was making some new medicines by the fire.

It was a very normal rest day for them. Nothing special had happened, no dangerous situations, no panic, no fighting. Even Inuyasha was calm and not tense and alert as usually.

All that changed quickly though, just like it always did. A terrified scream came outside the hut. "A yookai is going to attack! Everyone run! Yookai is coming!"

Inuyasha jumped up and smirked. "Finally some action!"

"I think we should investigate this", Miroku said rising up and helping Sango up too.

"You're quite right", Sango agreed and took her own weapons that were leaning against the wall.

Kagome groaned. "Oh no… I really hoped we could rest today." Even though she did not like it, she got up too and they all quickly went outside to see what was really going on.

To say that they had a shock would be a huge underestimation.

Yes, there was a yookai alright. But it was not just any yookai. Sesshoumaru stood proud and tall in the middle of the village frowning slightly. He looked a bit out of place. When he noticed Inuyasha and the rest of them he began to walk toward them quickly with long strides.

Inuyasha's mouth fell open and all he could do was stay still and watch his brother coming closer.

"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome shouted surprised. "What on earth are you doing here?"

The villagers were surprised to see that Kagome new the beautiful yookai. He looked dangerous, but if Kagome and the rest of them knew him, he could not be that dangerous. They all went back to their businesses and left the strange yookai to Kagome's care. (Perhaps a little stupid thing to do…)

Miroku recovered from his shock quickly. He knew they all should be careful, Sesshoumaru was a killer after all, but for some reason after seeing Sesshoumaru and the little girl in the forest some time ago, none of them could quite muster the feeling of fear toward Sesshoumaru anymore. "What a surprise to see you here Sesshoumaru. This is a human village, if you haven't noticed", he pointed out just to be sure.

Sesshoumaru ignored him and looked straight at Kagome. "You are hard to find", he stated.

"I am?" Kagome asked bewildered.

"Yes. Too many humans." Sesshoumaru looked annoyed and wrinkled his nose.

Inuyasha stepped between Kagome and his brother. "What the hell are you doing here you bastard?"

Everybody got surprised again when Sesshoumaru visibly frowned. It was such a deep frown that his eyebrows moved closer each other. His eyes on the other hand widened worriedly and he took a deep breath. Then he moved the fur out of his way and revealed Rin who was sleeping restlessly in his arms. He looked at the girl, then at Kagome, and then at Rin again. After continuing this for awhile he suddenly handed out the girl holding her in front of Kagome. "Is she going to die?" His voice was almost desperate.

Rin coughed. The voice made Kagome jump. She did not really have time to wonder about Sesshoumaru's weird behavior though, since her overactive mother instincts kicked in. She touched Rin's forehead gently. "She has a fever", she said and took the girl from Sesshoumaru.

"What is fever?" Sesshoumaru asked cocking his head. "Is it going to kill her?"

Kagome smiled reassuringly. "Nothing is going to kill her. I think she has flu. She shouldn't go around bare footed. I'll take her inside and we'll give her some medicine. She needs to rest."

"If you say so", Sesshoumaru nodded and patted Rin's head awkwardly. "I have to give her shoes…" he kept muttering. Obviously he had forgotten he had an audience.

Inuyasha could not help it. His arrogant brother was acting so stupidly! What was he, a new mum who has just given birth? He burst out laughing.

Sesshoumaru turned to look at him eyes cold as ice. "Is there something funny, Inuyasha?"

Kagome sighed. "Don't you worry about him. I'll handle it. You should not worry Rin by fighting when she's so weak."

"If you say so", Sesshoumaru nodded again and the concerned and somewhat trusting look was back on his face. Inuyasha laughed even harder.

"Inuyasha, sit", Kagome commanded and then went inside the hut.

Sesshoumaru looked at his brother who now had a mouthful of dirt stopping his laughter. "That really is a handy technique she has, hmm?" he mused. He sounded almost interested.

This time it was Miroku and Sango's turn to cover their mouths so they would not laugh. They were not actually sure what was so funny about it. Perhaps it was just the fact that Sesshoumaru's behavior was so out of character. Apparently that little girl had a great affect on him.

"Shoes…" Sesshoumaru muttered again. Suddenly he took off in the air and then he was gone.

Miroku and Sango stared after him. He was definitely not okay…

"He's acting funny", Shippoo observed and threw a candy in his mouth.

Inuyasha on the other hand spitted the dirt out of his mouth. "That bastard. What's he getting all worked up because of a stupid flu?"

"I don't think he is that familiar with human deceases. You could probably tell him she has flu or pneumonia and he wouldn't know the difference. He just knows she is sick", Miroku said.

"I think you're right", Sango agreed. "Still, it's odd to see him so worried."

Inuyasha huffed. "He's not worried. He can't be worried over a _human._"

Kagome came out of the hut. "I think you're wrong Inuyasha. That was definitely him being worried. And remember how he behaved in the meadow. He obviously cares about this girl. Otherwise he would have never come and ask for help. It is Sesshoumaru, not his style to ask for help, especially from me. That's love alright."

"She's awfully small though…" Inuyasha said and pouted. "That's just weird. Can't he fall in love like a normal person?"

"Inuyasha, SITSITSIT!!!" Kagome shouted. "Honestly, you are such an idiot! That's not what I meant!"

"Anyway…" Miroku started. He thought it would be best to change the subject. "How is she?"

"Kaede gave her some medicine for her cough. Now we just have to get her fever to go down. She should be alright after she gets to rest."

"That's good to know."

"Where is Sesshoumaru anyway?"

Sango chuckled. "I think he went to get her shoes."

"Aww! That's so cute!" Kagome squealed and both of them giggled.

Inuyasha just shook his head and spitted out a bit more dirt.

After some time Sesshoumaru returned. With him he had a huge bag, which he dropped at Kagome's feet. "Shoes", he explained earnestly.

"I see", Kagome said kindly and opened the bag full of shoes. (Some of them were way too big or small.)"That's very kind of you Sesshoumaru."

He nodded satisfied. "Rin?" he asked.

"She's resting. She's going to be fine. It's could that you brought her here so quickly, otherwise it might have been bad."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "She will recover?"

"Yes."

Sesshoumaru was quiet for awhile. "Good", he said then. "I will go there", he pointed at the river. "It stinks here." Then he was gone. The others could see his white glowing figure sitting at the river bench.

"That bastard", Inuyasha growled.

--

--

Just before morning came Rin woke up. She was still feverish and very tired, but Kaede told them she was already starting to get better. The medicine had lessened her coughing.

"Where am I?" a weak voice asked under the covers.

Kagome smoothed her hair. "Everything's alright, little one. Sesshoumaru brought you to us so we can heal your flu."

"Where is Sesshoumaru? Lord Sesshoumaru?" Rin sounded like she was about to cry. Sesshoumaru's name came out like a desperate plea.

"Rin" a deep voice answered to her at the door of the hut.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin said happily, satisfied he was there. Her eyelids began to close, she was so tired. She reached out her hand toward Sesshoumaru, who watched her a bit curiously.

Again it looked like Sesshoumaru completely forgot where he really was, because he slowly walked to the little girl. Very carefully he touched her hand with one of his long fingers. At the moment their hands touched, Rin's little hand wrapped itself around Sesshoumaru's finger.

"Daddy", she muttered sleepily and pulled her fist with Sesshoumaru's hand against her cheek.

The word Rin had muttered had a great affect on Sesshoumaru, and everyone else in the room. For the first time in his life Sesshoumaru blushed. It was not a very visible blush but it was there, no doubt about it.

Inuyasha was shocked to the core, Miroku seemed to be unable to stop blinking and the girls 'aww'ed quietly.

Sesshoumaru looked at the little sleeping girl deep in thought. After studying her for awhile he raised his hand on his chest. "It disappeared", he muttered quietly. If the hut had not been so quiet the others would not have heard it.

"What did?" Kagome whispered. She did not want to break the moment.

"It was stuffy. Now it's gone", Sesshoumaru kept muttering. He did not seem to realize that he was speaking out loud.

"Yeah. It's hard to be worried, isn't it?" Kagome said smiling. For some reason she took Inuyasha's hand in her own and smiled.

--

--

Rin was a young and lively girl so she recovered fast. She was up and bright in no time babbling like a boiling kettle of water. Kagome gave her some very serious advices which would help her to stay healthy and keep her from not worrying Sesshoumaru (who by the way was back to his normal self again).

Rin had agreed to follow her advices. She did not want to worry Lord Sesshoumaru. (She did not remember anything from the night he had brought her to the village, not even the daddy-incident.) One of Kagome's advices was a bit hard for her to accept though. She absolutely refused to wear shoes. She thought they were difficult and not practical at all. To that Inuyasha had commented that the girl was smarter than what she looked and Rind had thanked the 'nice doggie uncle who is almost as good looking as Lord Sesshoumaru'. For some reason Inuyasha had not been pleased to hear her thanks…

Ah, anyway, the shoes. She did not like them. And even after countless times of trying, Kagome could not convince her to wear them. In the end, she had to go to Sesshoumaru at the river and ask him to talk to her, which was something he obviously did not want to do. He said something about him not being her father. Kagome of course did have none of that, so she kindly pointed out to the 'daddy' that she would DIE if he did not manage to convince her to wear proper clothes.

And so Sesshoumaru gave Rin a very stern lecture about why she should start wearing shoes.

Soon after Rin had recovered Sesshoumaru was ready to leave. He had a feeling he had behaved in a manner he should not have behaved while Rin was sick and it disturbed him. He could not quite figure out what was it about his manners that had been off since he had been very confused at the night he had brought Rin to the humans, but he was sure there was something he should not have done…

Sesshoumaru began to walk out of the village without saying a word. Rin on the other hand hugged everybody and told them how very thankful she was for their kind care. Inuyasha was surprised that one little girl new so many words, it seemed like she was unable to be quiet.

Suddenly she seemed to remember something. She turned to look at Sesshoumaru who was slowly walking away. "Lord Sesshoumaru!" she shouted after him. After a few steps he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Where is Jaken?" Rin asked eyes wide.

Sesshoumaru looked up to the sky. It took some time before he answered. "I forgot", he said simply.

"Oh no! Poor Jaken! We have to find him!" Rin shouted and ran to Sesshoumaru. She grabbed his hand and started to pull him with her walking down the road to the forest. Soon they were gone.

Sango tapped Kagome's shoulder. When Kagome looked at her she whispered into her ear: "Which one of them do you think is the leader?"

Kagome giggled and just like Sesshoumaru she looked up. The sky was very bright and white clouds drifted slowly across the blue. "It is a very nice cloud day, isn't it?"

--

--

A/N: Moi kaikille!!! Val here, after a too long time! I wrote a second part to this story (well, of course you already noticed that...) I've had some problems lately, writing has not flowed like it should, but I'm back in the game once again! (What the hell am I saying here? -.-) Anyway... I hope you liked it. Personally I don't think it's as good as the last one but oh well, it's always fun to mess with Sesshy. I am a bit sadistic, if you haven't noticed already. *Kukuku* Um, yeah, that's it for today. Have a nice Easter and give me a few reviews, okay? ^^

Love, Val

P.S: I'm in a mood to give Sesshy a hard time so Play Dangerous is probably updated next... Closed up Heart is also almost redy but I still have some issues with that, so wait patiently! ^^


	3. Careless Daddy

**A/N: _PLEASE READ THIS FIRST!!_ **

**Okay, first of all, let me make this clear: this is a collection of oneshots that I will update when I feel like it. This is something I do because I like to test my ability to use English (yes, it is still my third language) and it's something that allows me to test different ways of comedy and how to play with the characters. The last chapter showed me what not to do, I think they were, well Sesshy was, too much out of character, so I tried something else in this one. I would also like to add that I have extremely fun writing these, which means that I'm not sure if anyone else understands, my sense of humor leaves much to be desired in the eyes of others. Now, because these drabbles are experimental in a way, I need your feedback so I know what works and what not. I am planning on few bigger projects and because of the language I haven't got enought confidence to put them here untill I know what I can pull off, this includes _Closed up heart_, which I am having difficulties with. So help me, pretty please? (It does seem like I am unable to say anyhting shortly...)**

**~Val**

Careless Daddy

Sesshoumaru was a person who liked to keep to himself, everybody knew that. Even so, he traveled with two companions, three if the two headed creature was counted in as well. Those who knew the great Lord of the Western Lands were very surprised when they learned this. They were even more surprised when they actually saw the companions.

Considering that the two of them could be, at least in some way, considered as slightly annoying, it was not a surprise that sometimes Lord Sesshoumaru wished to be alone. When it became unbearable for him to stay in the presence of the others he left the little pack and went on his own way for some time, who knows where. At those times he left the camp for Jaken to look after.

That is also the reason why it was impossible for him to completely relax when left them out of sight. Rin was a quite nice girl for a human, but she did posses a difficult power of getting into trouble even in situations where it was very unlikely, and unfortunately Jaken was not the most reliable person to look after her.

For this reason Sesshoumaru found himself to be unusually – no, happy is not the right word – _rather pleased_ when he noticed that his idiotic sorry excuse of a brother and his a bit more sane companions had a camp quite near to where he was walking by.

He reasoned that even though he would rather rip his right hand off that ask the idiot to babysit, it would not be harmful if he were to leave Jaken, Rin and Ah-Un near them. Even someone as stupid as Inuyasha would react if there were to be any danger nearby, and most likely the danger would be targeting Inuyasha and his companions than a girl and a useless little toad. He could have some time for himself and actually be at ease. Perhaps.

Because his reasoning seemed to be quite, uh, reasonable, he decided to do just as he had thought. Rin and Jaken began to put up a camp and Sesshoumaru left to…wherever he went when he was feeling blue or something like that.

But unfortunately Sesshoumaru had not taken into consideration one tiny little detail, and that was Rin's personality. A little careless of him. You see, as most of the children under ten, Rin was a very curious sort of kid. Of course she had to go and see if there was something interesting in the forest around the camp, perhaps some flowers, bugs, mushrooms or a funny looking stump of a tree or, well, you get the point.

As she did her careful examination around the forest causing poor Jaken to lose his temper again, she happened to hear some voices. And unlike Sesshoumaru who did not care to remember his dealings with his brother, Rin could not forget the people who had been so nice to her once. Especially if she would be able to get some new friends to talk with, Jaken was not the best possible companion in that sense. He mostly told her to be quiet, which was something very hard for Rin to accomplish.

Filled with childish excitement, it did not take her more than a second to decide that it would be extremely impolite to not to say hello when she was so close, so, she ran toward the other camp ignoring completely Jaken's disagreeing shouting.

She was welcomed warmly. Kagome, the nice lady with funny (but very pretty) clothes hugged her. That felt nice, she did not get hugs very often. Lord Sesshoumaru was too cool, he would never hug. The other lady, Sango was her name (she was even prettier than Kagome,) greeted her nicely too, but for some reason she was holding back the monk. She said he might be dangerous, which made the monk, Miroku, look a bit uncomfortable and then they began to argue about something, Rin did not care to listen what it was about, she had a feeling she would not understand anyways. Shippoo was as cute as ever, Rin really liked his tail, but Inuyasha (who looked a tiny bit like Sesshoumaru) looked a little scary and said that she should not be there. Then Kagome told him to sit and he was suddenly lying in the ground. How did that happen, she did not know, but it sure looked funny.

They were just about to start their meal and asked her to join them. She was very happy that they invited her. Their food smelled delicious, and it had been awhile since she had eaten properly, not that she complained since traveling with Lord Sesshoumaru was definitely worth it.

The food they had was very strange, but it tasted good. Rin was so very happy that she had so many people she could talk to. And Kagome had so many interesting things in her yellow bag that it would have truly been a great pity if she had missed seeing them all. Besides, Kagome explained to her what the things were. That was so much fun! (she did not really understand though)

What she did not know was that there were also hot springs nearby and they were planning to go and bath there. It had also been awhile since Rin had taken a bath, and that had been when she had falle into a river while trying to catch a fish. Once again she ignored Jaken's loud protests (that were soon cut off by Inuyasha and his fist) and left with Kagome and Sango to the hot spring, they said it was nice to bath together.

They also asked her to stay and sleep with them, but Rin felt like she should say no to that one. Lord Sesshoumaru might come during the night and find their own camp empty. That would make him very worried, and Rin did not want that. Or worse, he might continue his journey without her, which would be sooo bad, so that is why she most definitely should be sleeping in their own camp.

Luckily the others understood when she explained how things were. Only Inuyasha mumbled something she could not properly hear, but apparently he did not understand why she wanted to be with Lord Sesshoumaru.

That was something Rin did not want to explain to anyone. She did feel a bit bad for being so selfish, but the reason she did not want to explain was because she feared that if she did, everybody would want to be with Lord Sesshoumaru (of course they would) and then she would have to share him. She did not really want to.

Besides, it had already been so interesting evening even if it was impossible for her to stay with them the whole night. However, there had happened something she did not quite understand. She would have to ask about it from Lord Sesshoumaru when came back.

--

--

"Lord Sesshoumaru, could I ask you a question?" Rin asked as they were walking through the forest.

He did not answer, as usual, but he did give her an almost unnoticeable sideways glance, which told her that she could continue.

"Do you like bathing?"

If he was surprised by her question, he certainly did not show it. After some time he answered with his quiet manner. "Yes."

"So you take baths?"

Sesshoumaru did not answer to that but Rin thought the silence was telling her that yes he did.

"Then how come we never take baths together?"

Sesshoumaru stopped and slowly turned to look at Rin. He gave her a steady glare and then continued to walk.

As soon as Sesshoumaru had turned his back at them, Jaken jumped up and began to preach to the girl. "You insolent child! Of course Lord Sesshoumaru will not take baths with you!"

"But why not?"

Jaken was confused. "Well, that is to say, it is not something Lord Sesshoumaru would do…"

"He does not like to have fun?"

"What are you babbling about silly girl?"

"Aren't you supposed to go take a bath together with someone and have fun in there?"

Jaken blushed a little and seemed to be too angry to get the words out of his mouth. That gave Rin the opportunity to continue. "So how come we never go and take a bath together and do fun stuff?"

Sesshoumaru, who had listened very closely what they were talking about stopped once again and turned around. "Rin."

"Yes Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"What is this all about?"

"Well, yesterday I was with lady Kagome and Sango and we had a bath together. They said it would be more fun when we do it together, and it really, really was. Miroku and Inuyasha stayed to watch the camp, but they were planning to go and take a bath together as well, when we come back."

Sesshoumaru waited for her to continue.

She took a deep breath. "Then we came back and Inuyasha and Miroku were leaving. I heard when Miroku said to Sango that he would have much more fun if she would accompany him and they could do lots of fun stuff in there. That made me thinking that if we all went to have a bath together we would have so much fun!" she explained exited. "And we would be very clean", she added quickly just to show that she had, in fact, thought about it very carefully.

After she finished she noticed that Jaken was acting very strangely. He was sort of shivering and his grip around his staff looked painfully tight. He was also very, very red. Lord Sesshoumaru on the other hand did not look much different, but he gave Jaken a very ugly look that made him jump.

"Jaken", he began, "what is this?"

"I am so very sorry Milord! Inuyasha's camp was near ours and Rin found out and insisted on staying with them for awhile so we did and they ate and had a bath and may I add that I did not because of my loyalty to you Milord and I must say that the humans are very extremely unpleasant and said things apparently not at all suitable for someone like Rin whose intelligence leaves much to be desired and the monk was absolutely hideous and suggested the most outrageous things to the other woman and Inuyasha was mostly quiet but even so he was rude and – "

"Shut up."

"Yes Milord." Jaken stopped his rambling.

"Rin."

Rin was now almost certain that she had said something wrong, she was not sure what it was but it was definitely something. She just hoped Lord Sesshoumaru would not be too mad at her. She nodded shortly to him to show she was listening very, extremely carefully.

"We will not take a bath together."

That was a little disappointing but she had already seen it coming. She could only wonder why Sesshoumaru did not like to have fun. Did he take baths even though he did not like to do so or did he do fun stuff rather by himself?

"And you will not be with those people alone again."

That was a bit unfair. They were so nice to her and they were already friends, but if that was something Lord Sesshoumaru wished she could only nod in agreement. Besides, she would not be alone if Jaken was with her…

"Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"Yes Rin."

"Is it even possible to do fun stuff alone in the bath?" Rin asked eyes shining with pure innocence. For a moment she thought that Sesshoumaru looked uncomfortable but that was over so soon she was certain she had made a mistake.

"Bath is for bathing so one can clean oneself. That is all."

Rin thought about this for a second, but little children are always full of questions. "So does doing fun stuff mean you will get dirty?"

At this point Jaen fainted.

"Rin", Sesshoumaru said sternly. "That is enough of questions."

After that Sesshoumaru turned around and continued their journey. Rin followed soon after and poor Jaken was left lying there until he would wake up and follow.

During this quite confusing conversation Sesshoumaru had realized that he might have been a bit too careless leaving Rin and that useless green thing so close to that good for nothing and his pack. His reasoning had been good, of course it had, but he had to admit that there might have been some openings. From now on he would make sure they would not be anywhere near Rin unless he was present. Dealing with this aftermath was…not something he was ready to do.

The subject of having fun in the bath rose never again, but it did still bother Rin. She decided she would ask about it from Miroku next time she would meet him. She was quite sure he would be able to tell her all about it.

Let us pray that Sesshoumaru will stay alert.


	4. How It Works

How It Works

"Lord Sesshoumaru?" Rin's bright voice piped up suddenly. She had been quiet for awhile, and that had made both Sesshoumaru and Jaken suspicious. You would think they had learned to appreciate these small silences when they finally came; Jaken because he hated Rin's constant babbling and Sesshoumaru because Jaken finally stopped complaining about it. However, at this point they already knew what it meant when Rin was silent.

Trouble.

Actually, that should be written with capital letters…

It was a little habit of Rin's. She went suddenly silent as a grave and her brow furrowed as she thought about something very carefully. After the intense thinking session she either came to some conclusion by herself, and what she and thought would always be a mystery, or then there would be the inevitable "Lord Sesshoumaru?"

Both Jaken and Sesshoumaru had already spent so much time together with Rin that they had come to secretly fear these "Lord Sesshoumaru?" moments. When that questioning tone came out of Rin's small mouth, it usually meant that she wanted answers and those answers were not always the easiest ones to give.

Sometimes, when she asked about this or that, it seemed like no one bothered to listen to her, not to mention answer, but that did not mean she was being ignored, but that both Jaken and Sesshoumaru (who, of course, would never admit it) were at a loss of words. Quite frankly, they were stunned. Of all the creatures in the world, Rin must have been the only one able to make the great lord of the west confused.

There was a clear pattern how things went when the kid was being…difficult.

Rin asked a question that made Jaken and Sesshoumaru fall silent. Well, Sesshoumaru was silent most of the time, but same could not be said about Jaken… Anyway, Rin asked about whatever it was on her mind and in his confusion Jaken told her to shut up while Sesshoumaru looked indifferent, although in reality he was everything but that.

Rin asked the second question to clarify what she had meant with the earlier one. Jaken thought it might be easier to just try and answer to the girl, so he stammered some nonsense while Sesshoumaru looked high and mighty even though he was really trying to come up with an answer himself.

Rin did not understand anything Jaken had said, which made the little demon extremely frustrated mainly because he himself had not get what he had just said. Sesshoumaru was still thinking.

Rin asked yet another question, perhaps a few. At this point Jaken was usually so mad he had a hard time walking straight. Sesshoumaru was still thinking wearing a stern mask of indifference on his face (a bit stupid to point that out since he is always like that…).

Jaken and Rin started a fight that could not be called, even if you try very hard, a silent kind of fight. You know, the kind when both parties a treating each other like air, or, well you get the point. No no, Rin and Jaken went all out and made their points loud and clear. The noise bother Sesshoumaru (who was still in the middle of thinking process) so he told Jaken to shut up.

It was quiet for a while, until Rin began her wondering again, this time thinking it with other point of view, she was not a stupid child and did not like to jump to conclusions (which she often did anyway). Jaken, naturally, lost his temper completely. Sesshoumaru still had not developed a liking to hear useless commotion so he silenced Jaken, either with a glare, a command or a fist on the head (sometimes kick or a flying rock, but flying rocks were his favorite so they were saved for special occasions).

At this point how things would end up depended on Rin's question. Sometimes Sesshoumaru gave her a very short reply that he had carefully thought through while the others were making a racket. Rin thought that Lord Sesshoumaru was so very very smart when he could give her an explanation so quickly, when Jaken was just being mean. Jaken was either whimpering on the ground holding his head (or some other body parts) or looking ashamed because he had not been able to give a proper reply to the girl so that his precious master would not have to bother doing something so trivial.

Occasionally it happened that Rin's question was not so easy to answer. In fact, it only gave you a headache. Then, after Sesshoumaru had silenced the two, the question was left hanging in the air unanswered.

During the following week they would conveniently pass by Inuyasha and his pack. Rin always wanted to stop by and say hello and Sesshoumaru permitted her to do so, as long as he was keeping an eye on her (for reasons you surely remember). At some point the unanswered question popped up and Rin would get her answer, kindly explained by Kagome and Sango.

This particular time Rin's question finally led them to Inuyasha and others. Lately Rin had taken a careful notice of families. She considered the group she was travelling with as her family, but then it had occurred to her that that could not possibly be right! Every family had a mother and a father and then the children. But in her family, who on earth was who?

Well, it was obvious that she was the kid of the family, but what about the mother? Mother was quite essential in every family. Jaken? No, that was completely wrong. He was annoying and always preaching about something. Kinda like a father… Mother was a kind person who protects the child and takes care of her and so on. Yes, that was obviously Lord Sesshoumaru.

It just happened that when Rin got this figures out it gave her another problem. Lord Sesshoumaru was very beautiful, so that fit with the mother image, mothers were supposed to be beautiful, but they were also supposed to… yeah… so how did that happen…?

This is when the women travelling with Inuyasha came in the picture. It was left to them to explain to Rin why Lord Sesshoumaru, as pretty as he was, could not be the mother because he could not have babies and why it was like that?

On that day, that was not a good cloud day, Rin learned many new things.

(Due to the rating of this story, it is best to leave unsaid how Sesshoumaru's beloved brother reacted to all this.)

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_-.- yeah.... Don't ask, just forgive me..._

_And by the way, it is NOT my intention to make ANY indications that there are only one kind of "proper" families, just go with the flow with this story. Actually, I've never met a family that was not more or less screwed up... So don't take offense!!! (You prabably did now that I pointed it out...) _

_I wanna go and climb to a tree. Bye for now!  
_

_~Val_

_Random? Me? Of course I'm not... It's a nice tree, you know...  
_


	5. About Ears

About Ears

Rin was bored. Very bored. It was raining, so it was definitely NOT a good cloud day and they were stuck in a cave that smelled like Jaken's feet. There was not much to do there even though she had more companions to spent time with than she usually had. Sesshoumaru, Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un had been just talking with Inuyasha and Kagome and others when the storm suddenly surprised them and they had ran into the cave that still smelled really bad even though Jaken had not been there in the first place.

It had been sort of fun at first because they had had so much to talk about, but then Inuyasha and Lord Sesshoumaru started to fight and then Kagome got mad and did something to Inuyasha so that he flew to the ground and now he was mad at her and Sesshoumaru was (at least Rin thought so) sulking in the corner of the cave because Inuyasha ignored their fight. Sango and Miroku on the other hand were quite alright at first, but then the monk probably did something very bad because Sango got so mad that she hit him and now they were not talking to each other. Shippoo and Kirara were tired so they fell asleep already and Jaken was stubbornly staying outside in the rain because he absolutely refused to "breath the same air as the lower beings of the earth". Rin was not sure what he had meant by that but if he wanted to get wet because of it, it must have been something important.

All in all it was a very complicated situation that Rin did not understand at all. She had thought about it for awhile and come to the conclusion that she did not even want to understand it. It all seemed so silly and unnecessarily adult that she felt like she could ignore it until she was old enough to be actually part of these arguments. It was of no use trying to get a head ache over something she was not involved with. She just hoped she could fall asleep like Shippoo and Kirara and not get bored out of her mind waiting for something to happen.

So, situation being what it was, it is no wonder that Rin's little and extremely curious mind got wild and she began to think about all sorts of things. It is actually quite a scary thing when children began to think too much. Their insatiable curiosity and habit of making questions and the insane naivety they posses makes them dangerous. Children can unexpectedly often think about something and then say it out loud in such a simple manner that an adult is speechless. At those times one can only think something like: "Why didn't I think of that?" The answer to that question is: we adults make things way more complicated than they really are. Children remind us what idiots we are. That is why some people do not like kids. (That and they can be simply annoying)

Well, Rin had managed to hit the nail quite a few times causing Jaken to have heart attacks every now and then. Sesshoumaru was at times shocked too, but it was not like him to show it so he just used couple of days trying to figure out how she had managed to get to the said conclusion. Sometimes he succeeded and sometimes the girl's train of thought stayed as a mystery. He rather had it that way. Asking was completely out of the question.

But this time it was different. Rin did not think about where babies come from (she had already done that) or where people go when they die (she had definitely done that one) or why humans and animals but apparently not Sesshoumaru have to eat in order to stay alive (she had done that too but she still did not know how Lord Sesshoumaru manages).

This time she was thinking about ears.

Ears are quite interesting things. They are very peculiar but apparently necessary since everybody has them. But why do they have to be so different?

The reason why Rin began to ponder this question was probably Inuyasha. Rin thought his ears were cute. You cannot say that very often about person's ears. They are not supposed to be cute. They are ears.

Inuyasha's ears were furry. That is most likely the reason why his ears could be called cute. Furry things are often cute. Shippoo's tail was cute too. It was all puffy and soft, it was a bit like Lord Sesshoumaru's…whatever the thing was. That could not be called cute, though. That word just did not suit Lord Sesshoumaru, no matter how furry he was.

Rin had often thought about Sesshoumaru's fur. She knew he was a dog demon, so it was natural that he had fur. That also raised another question: was the furry thing actually Lord Sesshoumaru's tail? She did not have the courage to ask about it. She thought it might be rude to ask something like that. What if it was not his tail but he actually wanted one and she ended up hurting his feelings by asking something so horrible? Oh well, perhaps that would not happen. Lord Sesshoumaru could surely get a tail if he wanted one.

Anyway, back to business. This was about ears now, tails were for some other time.

Lady Kagome, Sango and Miroku had pretty much the same kind of ears as she had. That was a bit disappointing observation. Their ears were sort of boring, no fur or anything. Just weird holes and such. No fun in there.

And Kirara was a cat (though she had two tails… no! no time for tails now!) so because she was a cat she obviously had cat ears. They were furry but not as interesting as Inuyasha's, perhaps because, well, she was a cat.

Jaken was just simply ugly.

Lord Sesshoumaru on the other hand… His ears were different than anyone else's. They were almost like hers but they were pointy kind of ears. Not the kind of pointy Inuyasha had.

Rin liked Lord Sesshoumaru's ears very much. Even though they were not cute. They were definitely not furry. It would look very silly if they were. Rin giggled at the thought.

Yeah, not furry. Giggle. But on Inuyasha it looked nice. They suited him, he had the right kind of hair for them. Lord Sesshoumaru's was much silkier so something like that would not look good on him. Not that anything could look _bad_ on him either.

"Still, Lord Sesshoumaru's ears should not be furry…or on top of his head" she mused.

Yup. She had said it out loud. Rin sighed. She should really learn how to control what she was saying. Her mouth _always_ got her in trouble. She had enough experience that she knew she would be asked to explain what she had been thinking up until this point and that would not be an easy thing to do. She was afraid she might embarrass Lord Sesshoumaru. Well, perhaps she had already done that. Apparently she should start taking notice of people's ears in more than one way from now on…

Everyone was looking at her. They looked bewildered, shocked and other such things, Inuyasha looked a bit amused. In about five seconds they would start asking what she had been saying.

Even Sesshoumaru reacted to Rin's unexpected comment.

He blinked.

Then, just like Rin, he let out a small sigh that no one else noticed. He would never be able to understand what was going on in the little girl's head. He was starting to think it might be better that way.

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_*deep sigh* Once again this is something that goes to "please don't ask"-folder. I seriously don't know what I'm thinking -.- I've been sulking lately so it's not that funny. Oh well, leave some reviews and tell me how bad it was. Which reminds me, is it normal that ALL my stories are favourited more times than they are reviewed? This story for example, how is it possible??? Not that I compain but it is strange._

_Oh yeah, almost forgot._

_To Charm Shadow: No, you can't ask. I already said so._

_To Tomoko Tane: Thank you, I enjoyed climbing to that tree. It was nice and big. There were some ants though. I don't like those._

_To all who complain: Believe it or not, I am aware that Sesshoumaru is sometimes out of character, I think I have mentioned it a few times myself. And as I've said; this is fanfiction. I'm allowed to strech the lines and this story collection is just that: experiment of what I can pull off. Deal with it._

_Love, Val_


	6. Daddy's Little Secret

Daddy's Little Secret

It had been an exhausting day, in so many ways. It had been a very nice cloud day, which practically meant a non-stopping babble flood from Rin, countless complains from Jaken and silence and occasional violence from Sesshoumaru. They had travelled a long way that day. Sesshoumaru had led his group through a thick forest, over the hills and far away… oh sorry…one should not listen to music while writing a story… (1)

Anyway, back to business. So, they had travelled a long way, but even if the road was long, hard and rocky, Jaken and Rin happily followed their mighty leader no matter where he went. It was Sesshoumaru after all, in their eyes he could not make a mistake and he _obviously_ had a plan.

Well, the truth was that he actually hadn't. None at all. He had absolutely no idea what his so called destination should be and he did not even want to know. He simply liked to travel around, especially when there were no signs of Naraku that could distract him from his favorite (and for a long time only) pastime. This was, naturally, something that Rin and Jaken would never ever find out, Sesshoumaru was going to make sure of it. Though, it was not like he was trying to hide anything, it was their fault for making wrong conclusions. He simply did not feel like correcting their idiotic assumptions either. Their respect and admiration were essential to his magnificent ego.

For Rin those long travels were not a problem. If she had a problem with walking she could always ride Ah-Un. Also, she was never bored. She had an amazing ability to generate fun and excitement from the silliest things. On that day she had come up with a new song that drove Jaken close to madness in all its annoyingness.

Sesshoumaru had long ago learned to close his ears from voices he had no wish to hear so Rin's singing voice did not really disturb him. He only knew that the song had something to do with birds, butterflies, flowers and Jaken's nose. How those things were connected, he had no idea, and once again he had absolutely no desire to even find out. He simply walked and tried to ignore the trio behind him.

Unfortunately Jaken's voice was something he had not yet learned to ignore. His piercing and always complaining voice was something that he could not stand longer than a few minutes. After that he tried his best to regain self control, but even so the outcome was always the same. He simply had to shut the toad up, one way or the other. Flying rocks, that was actually fun…

When it came to Rin, Sesshoumaru actually admired her a little. Considering that they travelled quite long distances per day, it was only natural that a small human like her would tire. Still, that did not seem to be the case with Rin, the little girl with sun behind her eyes. Her energy never wore off. Actually, she did a lot more than either Sesshoumaru or Jaken. While the two (and Ah-Un of course) simply walked straight, Rin was here and there, running around wherever she felt like going. One moment she was picking flowers and the second she was climbing to a tree to see a bird and her nest or trying to catch a fish from the river.

In secrecy, Sesshoumaru found a great deal of amusement in her absurd actions that did not seem to have any logic in them at all, and yet she always had a reason to everything she did. He just couldn't understand why on earth Jaken had to be so noisy about it.

Rin was actually the reason why Sesshoumaru had learned to take something like 'time' into consideration. She had lots and lots of energy, yes, but eventually she would tire out. That always happened fairly quickly. First she was running around and then she was practically falling asleep while still standing. That is why Sesshoumaru had gradually learned that it was, for her sake, best to travel during the day and rest the night. That had been slightly difficult at first. He happened to like the nights but apparently travelling in the moonlight did not suit humans. That was so like them… However, he had, after some time, noticed that it was better that way. It was much easier to keep an eye on that girl in the day light. She had a bad habit of getting into trouble and dark forest at midnight screamed of trouble.

A little human as a companion had taught him a lot of other things as well, such as: regular eating hours, daily sleep, rest and seasonal changes. Winter, fall, spring, summer, for Sesshoumaru it didn't really matter what the season was but for the girl it was apparently a big deal. For example, during winters she was often awfully cold, which was rather peculiar. And when it came summer she nearly had a heath stroke. Humans are so easily affected by tiny little things.

But such things as regular eating and sleeping were the things that had caused a few problems. It was so hard to keep up with it. Sometimes Sesshoumaru felt like the girl was constantly stuffing something into her small mouth. And what was with that sleeping rhythm? Was she going to spent half of her life her eyes closed? That was such a waste considering how much she could have learned during that time. She was a smart and curious child after all. Sesshoumaru was a little proud of that fact, not that he'd admit it.

Because they were only capable of travelling during the daytime and Rin needed to eat and sleep during the night, they had to put up a camp every (well, almost every) night. At first it had been very troublesome, mostly because Jaken felt like it was a waste of time and was once again unnecessarily loud about it. Luckily Rin knew how to put up a proper camp, apparently she had had to take care of herself for quite some time before meeting the demons.

Personally, Sesshoumaru had never felt the need for a camp. If he needed to rest, he did just that, but he didn't need to prepare anything to do that. Even so, during his time with Rin, he had come to like their time spent next to the fire. Before he had even noticed it happening, he had somehow gotten used to the routine.

It truly surprised him, how he felt a certain satisfaction as he followed Rin's actions while she prepared food, took care of the fire and arranged herself a sleeping place. Sesshoumaru enjoyed seeing the dancing flames and the cheerful girl whose bright eyes shone in the light. At that point Jaken had usually passed out long time ago. He got tired very easily. Such a pathetic creature. The thought made Sesshoumaru sigh.

Rin usually ate her food while humming quietly. Sesshoumaru often thought of why she did that. Perhaps she didn't like the silence or the food was so good that it required a song or two. The yookai lord just could not understand how human food could taste good. To him even the smell was sickening.

After eating, it did not take long for the little girl to fall asleep. Very often she didn't even manage to get to the place she had thought to sleep at. It looked a bit like she would have passed out. If she was sitting, her eyelids began to droop and soon she fell to the ground fast asleep.

Sesshoumaru always watched carefully what she was doing. Little by little he, too, began to develop his own little habits around those that Rin had. When Rin and Jaken were putting up a camp, they always thought that when Sesshoumaru disappeared during that time, he was checking the area so that there wouldn't be any harm near them. In reality he was doing that, yes, but he didn't put much energy into it, mainly because he could tell if there was any danger nearby even without moving from one spot. Actually, no matter where they put up their camp there was always some nice firewood nearby and somehow there was also some food for Rin to gather. Sesshoumaru made sure that there were both, he went out of his way to get them there if necessary.

Another habit Sesshoumaru had developed was something he was actually rather embarrassed about. It was something he could do only after making sure that Jaken would not wake up from his slumber anytime soon. Sesshoumaru was quite sure that it was not healthy for a little girl like Rin to fall asleep wherever was flat surface, and not always even that. Some nights it looked like she was feeling cold and some nights it looked like she was having a nightmare. It bothered Sesshoumaru a great deal, yet another thing he did not wish to let anyone know. Therefore, whenever it was possible, he picked the girl up from the ground and carried her to a place where he, too, could rest the night. Then he carefully placed her in his lap and wrapped the fur around her.

After she was in a warm and comfortable place like that she always slept peacefully. Sesshoumaru never did, though. He found the sleeping girls face fascinating. It was like he could see her dreams on her face. He held her protectively in his arms until the sun was about to rise.

When the morning was near, Sesshoumaru got up and took the girl back to where she had been when falling asleep. Then he stood silently like a marble statue a bit further away from the others, waiting for the others to come to. When they did, they continued their journey.

And now to the fact why Rin never actually bothered to find a proper place to sleep in. Quite simply, she didn't think she needed one. She always slept so well no matter where she was! Little did she know…

--

--

_Okay, I'm sick, feverish and it's past midnight so there are most certainly some spelling errors or something like that. And this is the last time I'm gonna say this: YES! I KNOW! How many times do I have to tell you that I KNOW there is some OOC but how the HELL do you expect me to write something like this without it??? I'm allowed to do it god damn it! In my opinion this is more likely to happen than Sesshoumaru humping Kagome like in sooo many stories.... -.-_

_~Val_

_(1) if someone doesn't know, this is a reference to a song called **Over the Hills and Far Away.**  
_


	7. I Love You?

I love you?

"Lord Sesshoumaru?"

Silence.

"Lord Sesshoumaru?"

He nodded his head and almost felt like sighing. Here it was again, that troublesome questioning tone that brought nothing but problems with it. Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder if the girl ever ran out of question, or was she simply made out of them. He was actually grateful he didn't have any kids of his own. Well, sort of…

"I was just wondering, have you ever said 'I love you' to anyone?"

Now that was slightly shocking. He glanced at her way. Her big brown eyes were looking straight at him, earnest and wondering.

"No." He had learned by now that it was better to be strictly honest. She was the type who didn't let go once the thought entered her little brain. If she wouldn't get the answer from him, she'd probably start to ask the same thing from every person who she met. That might also include asking about it from Inuyasha, and that was something he did not want to her to do. His stupid _half _brother should never hear about this.

"Oh, I see", Rin said, sounding rather sad. She lowered her head and bit her lower lip, a habit she had when troubled about something or other.

Sesshoumaru had to admit, he was confused. What on earth had brought on such a question and what was she thinking now? What was there to be troubled about?

Rin looked up again. "Has anyone ever told you that they love you?"

He was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable. This subject was not something he was used to, in good or bad. "No", he stated and turned to look the other way. Now was the right time to come up with a plan to escape.

"I see", the girl sighed again.

Sesshoumaru was dying to know what she was thinking. Unfortunately, knowing would require asking about it and that was absolutely out of the question. Although now might be the right time to make an exception. Jaken was lost somewhere so there was no fear that he might hear this horrible conversation.

Before Sesshoumaru managed to come to any conclusion about what to do, Rin opened her mouth. "Would you like someone to say it to you?"

Sesshoumaru blinked. This was starting to get beyond uncomfortable. "Rin, what are you talking about?"

Rin's eyes were fixed on the blade of grass she was holding between her fingers. She began to divide it into pieces never looking up, and when she was done, she picked another one and started from the beginning. Sesshoumaru waited patiently for the girl to organize her thoughts.

"Well, I was just wondering…"

"What is it Rin?" Sesshoumaru encouraged (he was surprised he did that) when she didn't continue.

"I was collecting some food in the forest and I saw a woman and a boy there", she told him and then fell silent again. It also looked like she was going to destroy a lot of grass during this talk.

"Rin."

Sesshoumaru's tone made Rin finally blurt it all out: "Well you see, Lord Sesshoumaru, they were talking about this and that and then the mother said to the boy that she loved him and the boy said it too and then the boy asked why they're saying it and the mother said that people need to know they're loved and then I realized that I don't remember anyone ever telling _me_ that so I was just wondering if…if…well…" Rin's head fell to her knees and she wrapped her arms around them.

This was one of those rare moments when Sesshoumaru really, truly wanted to be somewhere else entirely. Actually, he wanted to pretend that he had never heard any of the things the little girl had said. Even more he wished he had never _asked_ anything. He should have known it was no good doing something against his usual habits. Habits were good. They exist for a reason!

What was he supposed to say anyway? Should he _comfort_ her? Out of the question! That was not something he would do. Not that he'd even know how to do something like that. He didn't remember ever having to comfort anyone.

Then again, he sort of _wanted_ to comfort the girl. Her sad face was something he did not like seeing. He wanted her eyes to sparkle with excitement, not glisten with tears.

Okay then… How about he patted her head?

No no no. Absolutely not! No physical contact needed.

Should he say it was okay…

But why on earth would he say that when the girl obviously _wasn't_ okay?

This was horrible.

Suddenly Rin raised her head and looked at him. "Lord Sesshoumaru? Do you think my parents died without me because they didn't love me?"

Now what kind of question was that? Was she joking? Hmm, no she was seriously troubled by it. How unusual…

Of course he couldn't tell the child that she was beyond stupid for thinking something like that. Even humans weren't unpractical enough to find bandits to slaughter them just because they didn't love their daughter. However, Sesshoumaru really thought he shouldn't say that out loud. Rin looked rather vulnerable at the moment. That's why (and because he honestly didn't know what else to say) he simply said: "No."

"Ah. That's good then", Rin sighed relieved.

"Is it?" Sesshoumaru couldn't help it. It sort of slipped out of his mouth, just a quiet mumble but it did come out all the same. He'd never done that before, let things slip. Would Rin notice if he started to bang his head against the nearest tree? Probably…

"Yeah… I was afraid that they wanted to get away from me… But that's a bit silly isn't it? I mean, I don't really remember anything about them so why would I remember the 'I love you' – part? They might have said it."

Sesshoumaru was very quiet and his face was carefully under control so he wouldn't make any unnecessary noises or expressions that would encourage the girl to continue. He didn't really trust himself at that particular moment. The tree he was leaning against was staring to press his back rather painfully but he didn't dare to move or he might do something he later regretted…

"But really, Lord Sesshoumaru, wouldn't you want someone to say it to you?" Rin asked, now in a considerably better mood.

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in alarm. Once again he found himself pondering how he should answer. Silence would be like avoiding the issue, denying would (knowing Rin) make the girl feel sorry for him (which was probably worse than anything else) and admitting would simply be lying. He looked at the girl with a bit of suspicion.

Rin was now looking at the clouds and talking to herself. "I wouldn't mind hearing it…"

Yes, Sesshoumaru was officially terrified. Not that anyone could find out about it since there were no signs about it on his face. That of course didn't change the fact that inside his head there was a screaming voice that told him to run away as fast as he could. He was able to run very fast if he wanted, it wouldn't take long to get a safe distance between them. Honestly, did she want him to say that he…he…

Suddenly Rin stood up. "I think I'll go pick up some flowers and I'll try to find Jaken, too. I think he's lost somewhere."

She smiled so brightly that Sesshoumaru thought he was off the hook. She would go do what she did best (she was very good at picking things from the ground) and he could get lost in his own mind and forget the stupid talk about l…l…lo…lov…well, that thing.

Rin was just about to disappear into the woods when she turned around and looked at Sesshoumaru with a pair of very serious brown eyes. "Lord Sesshoumaru?"

He didn't answer, and he most certainly didn't look.

"I love you", she whispered and ran off. He could hear her laughing quietly as she ran. She was happy again.

Sesshoumaru on the other hand had never been that embarrassed in his entire life. It was his turn to start destroying the grass, one stalk of hay at a time.

--

--

_Hello my dears! It's been a while since I updated this. I can't believe I'm writing something like this but oh well... My best friend likes stuff like this so she'll be happy. (Actually I just wanted to be a bit mean to Sesshoumaru...)  
_

_A Thousand Thankyous to everyone who have reviewed, favorited and alerted!!! ^^ Lots of hugs and kisses!! Levae a review this time too, pleeese! ^^ Ooh, and if you have time, please go and read my story **Roommate, My Roommate **featuring Sesshy and Naraku. It's a collection of oneshots like this one and its completely random but I sort of like it myself and I'd like to hear your opinions, too. (No, it's not yaoi, so don't turn away screaming). There was something else I wanted to say but I forgot what it was..._

_Oh yeah, thanks for correcting my mistakes (meaning spelling errors and such)! I'm really very grateful, I learn a lot from those. I won't correct them though, I have my reasons, but your corrections won't be wasted, don't worry! ^^_

_Love, Val  
_


	8. About Worms and Reading

About Worms and Reading

Kagome had a little problem. Well, it wasn't really a problem, more like an annoying thought that kept bothering her. She had just come back from her own time and was now having a very nice lunch with her friends. Everything was perfect, with the exception of her displeased face. Even Inuyasha wasn't dense enough to not notice it.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" Inuyasha finally barked his mouth full of ramen. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Kagome frowned. "Nothing. Eat before you talk."

Sango was surprised to hear Kagome's harsh tone. She stood up from where she was sitting and went to sit next to Kagome. She wanted to comfort her troubled friend, but at the same time she also wanted a safer place to eat. The monk's cursed hand was starting to wander again.

"Seriously, Kagome, what's on your mind?" she asked when she sat down.

Kagome let out a sigh and reached out to grab her yellow backpack. She rummaged through it a while before she pulled out a book. "This is what's troubling me."

"Is that one of your schoolbooks?" Sango asked and took the book. She studied it carefully. It was a beautiful thing, lots of colors and pictures with neat text that looked too good to be someone's handwriting.

"No, no", Kagome laughed. "That's a picture book, though you're right, it is meant for studying, just that it's really for younger children."

"So why is a child's book giving you trouble?"

Inuyasha's eyes flashed. "Is it cursed? Is there a demon living in it?" His hand was getting dangerously close to his sword.

"Nothing like that! Don't you even think about starting to act all violent, Inuyasha!" Kagome said angrily, making Inuyasha's ears flatten.

"I was just trying to help…"

"Well don't!"

"What did I do?" Inuyasha asked from Miroku after running to him to safety.

The monk rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just observe instead of meddling? Try not to get on her nerves."

Sango eyed Kagome quizzically. "Kagome, care to explain this so that we can understand, too?"

"Well, I saw this when I was shopping and I thought that Rin might like it."

Inuyasha snorted. "So you're afraid that Sesshoumaru rips you half if you dare to approach her with a book?"

Kagome's glare made him wince. "No, Inuyasha, that is not what I was thinking. He's actually quite nice."

Inuyasha's face was more than disbelieving. Actually, more than anything he looked disgusted. "Oh yeah. My beloved brother is just wonderfully kindhearted person."

"Way to go not getting on her nerves", Miroku whispered when Kagome bit her tongue so she wouldn't sit him. "Your funeral", he added and patted Inuyasha on the shoulder.

"Don't mind them, just continue, please", Sango said and gave the book back to Kagome, who was sighing again.

"Well, I was so sure she would like this but after I bought it I realized that maybe she can't read. I mean, you don't really have a proper school system around here, do you…"

Her friend nodded, understanding her problem. "Yeah, you're right. I know the basics but I doubt I could read that properly. My brother doesn't know how to read at all."

Miroku came closer to the girls and took the book from Kagome. "I know how to read and write, it was part of my education when I became a monk. But Sango is right; it is a much rarer talent here than it is in your time. Can you read, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha huffed and looked away. "Why would I need to do something like that?"

Kagome looked more than a little surprised. "Seriously? You can't read?"

The half demon glared. "No. You got a problem with that?"

"I can't read either!" Shippoo announced and jumped to sit on Kagome's lap.

"So this means that Rin definitely can't read…. Unless Sesshoumaru has taught her, and I seriously doubt that", Kagome said sighing again.

"What makes you think Sesshoumaru could read?" Inuyasha asked grumpily.

Everybody looked at him confused. Miroku scratched his head, deep in thought. "Oh yeah, I never thought of that. I guess there is no reason for a demon to learn how to read…"

"Wow. That's shocking. I'm not sure why, but it is", Kagome said and shook her head.

"He always seemed so civilized that I thought he had some education…" Sango mused.

"Civilized? That murderous bastard?" Inuyasha huffed and leaned back to lie down on the grass. "But whatever. I don't know what he can or cannot do, we have never actually had a deep conversation, you know. But if it bothers you, you can just ask him."

"I have to remember that." Kagome made a mental note to herself to come up with a way to ask about it without sounding offensive.

"Shouldn't be a problem. Try to keep it in your head a moment longer. They're here in a minute."

"What?" the others said in unison.

Inuyasha turned to look at them. "I said they're soon here. Try to listen…They are coming from that direction" Inuyasha said sounding uninterested, waving his hand to his left.

Just as Inuyasha said, it didn't take long before they saw a white figure in the distance. There were a couple of darker dots with the white one. Soon they could clearly see Sesshoumaru, Rin and Jaken walking towards them.

"It looks like they're deliberately coming to see us. What do you think it's about this time?" Kagome whispered to Sango.

"No idea, but this might turn out to be fun. Remember last time?" Sango grinned at the memory.

"Aah, you mean the ear-incident. That was…weird…"

"Yeah. She's a cute little girl."

"It still amazes me that they are together like that. I mean, Jaken and Rin aren't exactly the types you'd imagine to be with someone like Sesshoumaru. Why do you think he keeps them with him?"

"No idea, but something tells me that he simply likes them. If they bothered him, he'd simply leave them behind without a second thought, and he definitely can't really profit much from their company so that only leaves the option that he likes them", Sango concluded and gave an adoring smile to the group coming towards them.

Miroku shuddered. "I don't know Sango… Somehow the word 'like' seems like a bit too strong a word to describe anything that Sesshoumaru does or thinks."

"Would you guys shut the hell up? I don't want him to hear all that and start acting all bitchy about it. I just ate and all…" Inuyasha snapped at them and tried to find a better position on the ground. There was a very nasty root pressing his back.

Unfortunately Sesshoumaru was already quite close and he had no difficulty of hearing Inuyasha's rather loud voice. "Who, exactly, is 'acting all bitchy', my dearest brother?" he called out and kept coming closer with his companions.

Inuyasha groaned. "_Half _brother!" he corrected instantly and sat up. "And _you_ are acting bitchy almost all the time. Why the hell did you come here for?"

"Inuyasha, sit", Kagome said very calmly. "Hello Sesshoumaru! Would Rin like to have something to eat? We still have food left. Inuyasha didn't manage to consume it all."

"Could I, Lord Sesshoumaru?" the little girl asked and looked at him eagerly. He nodded and she ran to Kagome.

"What brings you here, Sesshoumaru?" Miroku asked and tried to grope Sango's buttocks, which led to the same result as it did every single time he played with his luck.

"Yeah, what're you doing here?" Inuyasha muffled as he tried to spit the grass and dirt out of his mouth.

Sesshoumaru looked at the two men and gave them a look that could almost be described pitying before he shook his head and answered with an even tone. "Rin wanted to see you. The reason for that is beyond me…"

"Acting all high an' mighty…" Inuyasha muttered and sat up again, trying to gain back some of his own dignity, with not that great results as the annoying root pressed rather painfully to his backside making him yelp.

Sesshoumaru ignored him and turned to look at Rin who was looking very keenly at Kagome, who was making her a cup of ramen. She handed the cup to the little girl who examined it with great interest. Then her little head snapped up and she turned to speak to Sesshoumaru with a beaming smile.

"Look at this Lord Sesshoumaru! They're eating good smelling worms!"

"I see", he said raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"No no, Rin", Kagome tried to explain before there would be some misunderstanding that she served cooked worms to her quests. "It's ramen. Noodles. They taste pretty good and I assure you they haven't even seen a worm."

"They look funny", the girl giggled. Sesshoumaru just stood still, looking at her.

"You don't want to eat them? I can give you something else if you want", Kagome said and reached out to her bag to see if she had something else in it, something that didn't look like anything that lived under grass and stones.

"No, I like funny looking food. It makes it more interesting, doesn't it?" the girl chirped and dug in.

"I guess it does", Kagome nodded, careful not to laugh and be very serious.

Sango, who was studying Sesshoumaru's (nonexistent) expressions could almost swear she saw him huff in amusement as he watched the little girl.

She was almost definite that she saw _something_ when the little girl began to hum a song. That was when Sesshoumaru coughed her watching. "What is it?" he asked and fixed his piercing golden eyes on Sango's.

"Oh, nothing, nothing", she said quickly and looked away.

Sesshoumaru turned his gaze to look at the scenery. He decided that it wouldn't do anyone any harm if he were to go a little further away from the rest of them. He needed some privacy, and Inuyasha's presence mainly managed to annoy him.

As he walked away, several pairs of eyes followed him.

"That's a shame…" Rin muttered, one noodle hanging from her mouth. "Lord Sesshoumaru usually likes that song…"

And so the eyes turned from Sesshoumaru to the girl.

"Do you sing often?" Kagome asked politely. She felt like there was definitely a story behind it.

"Quite often, and every time I eat. I'm not sure, of course, but I think that the sound makes him feel better. He doesn't like the smell of my food, you see", Rin told them and kept eating like she didn't notice the baffled expressions around her.

"Did he tell you that?" Miroku asked and shoved Inuyasha out of his way so he could get closer to the rest.

"No. Lord Sesshoumaru doesn't really like talking", Rin answered and tried to figure out if one of the worms in the cup actually had an eye.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know all this then?" Sango pressed, eager to find out the truth.

"Well," Rin started and put the chopsticks (that she didn't know how to use) away. She had a very thoughtful expression on her face. "Lord Sesshoumaru always turns to look the other way when I eat and his nose does this tiny twitch, and he always positions himself so that the wind blows the other way. I sing because usually he's in a better mood after I've sung something, usually quietly. He doesn't like loud sounds. That's why Jaken annoys him."

She was quiet for awhile before she added thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I think Lord Sesshoumaru's ears are very sensitive. Perhaps it _would_ help if they were furry…"

The others shared a couple of meaningful looks. They turned into even more meaningful ones when the girl muttered: "Oh yeah, I still haven't thought about the tails properly…"

I order to change the subject to something that would make sense; Kagome said the first thing that came to her mind. "So, Rin, I was wondering, do you happen to know how to read, or do you know someone who can?"

Rin looked at her, eyes shining with excitement. "Of course I do! Jaken knows how to read but he said he doesn't want to teach me. Where is he anyway?"

"He's out", Inuyasha said shortly and pointed the green and brown bundle on the ground.

"Mm, he always falls asleep so easily. I think he shouldn't run after me so much. His legs a way too short."

Suppressing a chuckle, Sango tried to get them pack to the topic. "I guess his legs are a bit short compared to yours. Did he say why he won't teach you?"

"No he didn't say, but I heard him mutter something about being useful to Lord Sesshoumaru. Perhaps he meant that I wouldn't be useful if I knew how to read. Why did you want to know? Oh, I'm almost certain that this worm _does_ have an eye!"

"That's a piece of onion Rin", Kagome corrected quickly. "And I wanted to know because, well, I brought you this", she said and handed her the book.

Rin's eyes widened. "Ooh! Is this for me? Really? I've never gotten presents, except from Lord Sesshoumaru. What is this? It's pretty! I love this picture!"

Kagome looked a bit uncomfortable. "Well, I'm glad you like it. Actually, that's a book. You should read it, but since you can't, I could give you something else."

"No, no! I love it! Thank you Lady Kagome! I'm so happy!" the girl sang and hugged Kagome, then the book.

"Jaken can read it to her", a deep voice said behind them. Sesshoumaru had returned after seeing Rin pouncing happily up and down. He liked to watch her happy.

He went to Jaken and kicked him awake. "We are leaving", he then stated and walked away.

Rin gave everyone a goodbye hug (even Inuyasha got one, to his great surprise), thanked for the worms (Kagome immediately corrected her, but it was completely in vain) and then she ran off holding the book tightly against her chest.

When the trio couldn't be seen anymore, Miroku turned to look at the others with a thoughtful expression spread across his face. "You know what…? Could it be that Sesshoumaru doesn't keep Jaken with him because he 'likes' him but because Jaken can read and he cannot…?"

The suggestion was met by a stunned silence and nervous laugh.

--

--

_I just watched the new Inuyasha series. Rin, Jaken and Sesshoumaru are so cute there!! And it proves what I've tried to tell people for a long time, Sesshoumaru has feelings!!! Yay! He says that nothing is more important than Rin's life. Ain't that cute of him? ^^_

_By the way, I don't like this chapter, but I thought I should post it anyway, considering that this is a I-try-desperately-to-improve-my-English collection... Just try to convince me this wasn't a complete waste of your time, I dare you!_

_~Val_

_P.S You'll get something better soon..._


	9. Big Toads Don't Cry

_A/N__: This story was based on the idea that people who like each other also happily bicker. I hope you know what I mean. When it's someone we trust and we can truly be ourselves around them, we're not afraid to show our not-so-good sides either. The very definition of a family, right? Show me a family that doesn't spend half the time arguing about something silly, and I'll give you a cookie. Besides, sometimes arguing is actually fun! ^^ Enjoy the show! This time the lights are on Jaken. He's so delightfully annoying that I had to write him. He ended up being pitiful._

Big Toads Don't Cry

It was one of those days that made Jaken wish he could just throw the girl off a cliff or something. What a pain. Why did he have to act as a babysitter? He was a highly respected vassal of the Lord of the Western Lands, not a caretaker of a _human_ who didn't even know when the right time to shut up was! She was ignorant, silly and loud little creature. She wasn't even of any use to anyone!

And so on.

These were the kind of thoughts that were running over and over again in Jaken's little green head as he watched the little girl called Rin run around a flower field chasing butterflies and other bugs and such. Every once in a while she bend down to pick something up, like a flower or a stick or a rock or something equally useless. Jaken couldn't understand why she had to collect things that weren't of any use to her, or to Lord Sesshoumaru.

Master Jaken had been feeling a bit down lately. Lots of things were getting on his nerves. He was tired of running, for example. He was already in an age when it would be better to settle down and take care of different matters while sitting indoors, instead of running after a little girl, camping outside and constantly being pulled into fights.

He was also starting to feel (and this was something that couldn't be taken lightly) that he was starting to be not-quite-so-important to Lord Sesshoumaru, which was pretty bad considering that Lord Sesshoumaru was more or less his reason for living. The reason why he was worried was that his Lord's attitude towards him had changed. Sure, before Lord Sesshoumaru was always hitting him and saying mean things like describing ways he would kill him, but at least then he was acknowledging his presence. Now Lord Sesshoumaru was more like ignoring him, and that was definitely absolutely _horrible_!

Surely Lord Sesshoumaru needed him, right?

His thoughts were interrupted when he spotted the girl again. What was that stupid girl doing _now_? What is the point of tying flowers together like that? Was she an idiot?

Rin was sitting in the middle of red flowers and concentrating very hard to whatever it was that she was doing. Her expression was very serious, even her brow was furrowed (she very rarely did that) and her little hands were busy with the flowers.

Well, it wasn't like Jaken really cared what she did as long as she'd stay out of trouble. Lord Sesshoumaru tended to be somewhat violent when he thought the girl was in danger or mistreated . Jaken was pretty certain that his head wasn't anymore the same shape it had been when he had met Lord Sesshoumaru years ago…

Not that he complained…

He would follow him anywhere, anytime, as long he was able to. His greatest fear was to be left behind. That would be absolutely awful. Even if he had to deal with a lot of things he didn't like, it was definitely worth it if he got to spend his days with someone as great and powerful as Lord Sesshoumaru.

Just that, lately, he was starting to wonder if he would be able to do that much longer. To him it was starting to feel like he wasn't needed anymore. Lord Sesshoumaru rarely took him with him anymore, when he left to…wherever it was that he went to. Now Jaken had to stay behind to watch over some human child that seemed to be much more important to Lord Sesshoumaru than his long time loyal servant. He never even hit the girl! Even if the girl was being a nuisance and asking stupid and embarrassing questions, it was always Jaken that got hit, never the girl.

It was so unfair!

Jaken could feel the tears welling up but he forced them away. He would _not_ cry, he declared stubbornly in his head and crossed his arms, nearly hitting himself with his two headed staff.

"Are you alright, master Jaken?" Rin shouted from the field. She had seen his clumsy moment. It pissed him off.

"Mind your own business girl!" he barked at her and put the staff quickly away.

"Yes, Master Jaken, but be careful. That thing is bigger than you so it might hurt", the girl said her brown eyes wide and innocent. However, Jaken was sure he saw a little bit of mischief in her smile. She always made fun of him!

Jaken's face turned red as he fought to get some smart reply out of his mouth. Unfortunately he was too angry to talk, and when he finally managed to calm himself down, it was already too late to say anything. Rin had already returned to her own little imaginary world, speaking now would only make him look stupid(er).

This was his new daily routine. He fought with a child. Could life get any more depressing? A demon of his caliber as a babysitter. Lord Sesshoumaru really didn't respect him at all.

Jaken kept sulking like that for a long time. Before he even noticed, it was already evening and sun was starting to set. He woke up from his grim thoughts when suddenly Rin sat next to him.

"Here you go Master Jaken, cheer up!" she almost sang and put something around his neck.

Jaken looked down and tugged the thing. "What's this, girl?" he snapped. He didn't really mean to sound so rude, it was just becoming a habit…

"It's a flower necklace! I made it myself. I was thinking of doing one for your head, but you have such a small head, Master Jaken, so I decided that a necklace would be better. I only used the prettiest flowers so it would help you to cheer up", Rin explained and put one flower a little better in its place.

"Why would I need to cheer up?" Jaken asked a little bit confused, ignoring the comment about his head size for now. He had to admit, sometimes the girl surprised him, only a little though. She was still stupid no matter what!

"You've been in a bad mood for a long time now. I've been trying to stay out of your way like Lord Sesshoumaru told me, but did I still do something bad?" Rin's brown eyes were wide with worry.

Jaken had never understood how the little girl's head worked. Her mood seemed to change in an instant. Not to mention that she had all these weird theories, like something about cloud days and ears and other such nonsense.

"Did Lord Sesshoumaru really say something like that?" Jaken asked his voice full of doubt.

"Yes", Rin chirped. "You've been moodier than normally, master Jaken. We're all worried about you, even Ah-Un."

The two-headed monster let out a sound that made Jaken jump to confirm what Rin had just said.

"Really?" Jaken's too big eyes watered.

"Yes. But you really shouldn't cry like that, master Jaken. It makes you look uglier than ever", Rin said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Why you insolent child!" Jaken turned red and started to shout out loud various opinions he had about the girl's behavior, and Rin retuned them with witty remarks masked with innocence she didn't _really_ have in this case. She was very good at provoking Jaken.

And so they continued to bicker until Lord Sesshoumaru came back and with one command shut them up for good.

--0--

--0--

"Lord Sesshoumaru?" Rin asked as she was preparing food for herself that evening. They had made a camp there at the field, under a big tree. Jaken was already fast asleep and Sesshoumaru was staring at the stars.

"What is it Rin?"

Rin had noticed that Lord Sesshoumaru was in an unexpectedly good mood that evening. The fact that he had just spoken instead of grunting was a proof of that. She thought that this was a good time to bring up an issue that had been bothering her for a while now.

"I was just wondering if you've noticed something weird about Master Jaken lately. He's been acting strange." Rin took the mushrooms out of the fire and sat down close to Sesshoumaru to eat them.

"No", was the simple reply.

Rin almost, just almost sighed. Adults were so difficult sometimes. "Well, I think he's feeling left out."

This time Sesshoumaru actually looked at her. After a minute or so he frowned. "Why?"

"I think he's old."

Sesshoumaru's barely visible frown deepened.

Rin knew she'd have to explain a bit better. She just didn't know how. She was a little afraid she might say something insulting.

"Well you see, Lord Sesshoumaru, Jaken _is_ old and short and slow. I mean, he _really_ can't keep up with me. I always have to wait for him, like that time when – "

"Rin", Sesshoumaru interrupted her chattering that was about to bubble uncontrollably. "Get to the point."

"Ah, yes, Lord Sesshoumaru." Rin decided that it was probably better if she put the last mushroom in her mouth only after she had finished talking. It was hard to talk when biting something. Not to mention that these mushrooms were strangely chewy…

"Actually I was thinking if it was possible for us to stay here for a day or so. I think Jaken could use the rest." Rin thought she shouldn't mention that Jaken felt like Lord Sesshoumaru didn't care for him anymore. That kind of things annoyed Lord Sesshoumaru and he'd probably end up hitting him. But if Lord Sesshoumaru would agree to stay there for a while, Jaken would think it was out of wordless consideration for him. Especially if Rin would nudge him to think that way, like she had done that afternoon.

Lord Sesshoumaru looked at her with piercing eyes, making her blush a bit guiltily. Okay, he could totally see through her. For a moment she thought her plan had miserably failed.

"I will think about it", he said after thinking about it, surprising Rin.

"Thank you, Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin chirped and put the last mushroom in her mouth. Then she curled up on the ground and closed her eyes, ready to sleep. Then she waited.

You should probably know, that little Rin had a very special skill. She could pretend to be asleep so well that she could even fool a certain demon lord. People often don't realize how hard it really is to pretend sleeping. Rin was very good at it, she could even control her breathing and lower her heart rate.

This was Rin's favorite part of the day. When Sesshoumaru thought she was asleep, he would pick her up and let her sleep next to him, or if he was in a special mood, he even let her sleep in his lap. Rin knew Lord Sesshoumaru didn't want her – or anyone else for the matter – to know about it. He always put her back to the ground before she woke up. She had never actually woken up in his lap. Shame…

Rin controlled her breathing and expression very well as Sesshoumaru picked her up and placed her (Yay!) in his lap, wrapping the fur around him. Rin snuggled into a better position before really falling asleep.

--0--

--0--

The next morning was absolutely beautiful. Birds sang hellos to the sun and the grass was wet with morning dew. Some very promising clouds were drifting across the sky. Rin watched it all with happiness written all over her face.

Jaken grumbled when a bird decided to sing her song right next to him, waking him up. He really didn't want to get up. However, he knew they'd be continuing their journey as soon as sun had risen, so he didn't have much choice.

He opened his eyes and looked around. Rin was doing something strange with two branches that had fallen from the tree she had slept under. Lord Sesshoumaru stood close by, eyeing the scenery.

When he noticed that Jaken, too, had woken up, he turned to look at his companions. "We're staying here today", he sated looking at Jaken. "Rest", he then added.

Rin could only barely control her happy squeal. Now she could complete her project with the flowers. She had this GREAT idea about a little tree house surrounded by flowers. She was forced to build it on the ground, though, for Lord Sesshoumaru didn't let her climb any trees. He said she was prone to falling… It was probably true, now that she thought about it.

Of course she had been worried about Jaken too, though!!

She just really wanted the tree house…

Still, she was very certain she shouldn't show her excitement too much, for Lord Sesshoumaru's nerves would have to stretch to extreme during that day. Master Jaken took Lord Sesshoumaru's news a bit too well.

"Ooh! Lord Sesshoumaru! Could it be that you're worried about me?" he said overjoyed. His eyes watered again and he kept chanting thankyous and praises to Lord Sesshoumaru's overwhelming kindness. He was just about to hug Lord Sesshoumaru's leg when the demon finally snapped.

"Shut up!" he said with a low, warning voice and hit him. Then he made sure the green thing got the point by kicking him away.

Rin sighed. Every time… Why couldn't Master Jaken just thank him and leave it at that? Did he have to annoy Lord Sesshoumaru after she had gone through so much trouble arranging this day?

Well, she was pretty sure those two liked to bicker almost as much as Rin like to do it with Master Jaken, so she should just leave them be. Now all that she had to do was to build that tree house.

--0--

--0--

_This things is getting so cutesy that I feel like writing something angsty next. I think it's pitiful that Jaken doesn't realise that Sesshoumaru would never leave Rin with someone he didn't trust, though he'd probably be unbearable if he did know that... I think the strange friendship that forms between Jaken and Rin is really funny. Rin is sometimes REALLY mean to him, and his reactions are pricelss! ^^ Have you noticed the same?  
_

_See you next time!_

_~Val  
_


	10. And Then There WasA Boy

**And Then There Was…A Boy**

All in all, Sesshoumaru was very happy with the way things were now. Even if it had started out as mere curiosity, his life had actually changed for the better ever since he had taken Rin with him on their journey. He was willing to admit that. Not out loud, of course, but he wasn't petty and despite the common belief (which he occasionally encouraged) he didn't let his pride get in the way when it came to deciding what was important to him and what not. If you didn't acknowledge certain things, you wound up losing. Know your weaknesses and so forth.

He had made sure he didn't have many. Prioritizing was the crucial part. Sesshoumaru pretty much had two categories in his head: **Important** and **Don't care**. The **Important** section was very small. The key to a calm, organized life was to have as few things in it as possible.

At least that's what he had thought. He had already come to terms with the fact that to him there was nothing more important than the little girl who smiled with her whole being. Then again, even that one thing had taken him very far from a calm life. Lately he'd been thinking that no matter how few or many important things one had, they always brought trouble. Come to think of it, that whole sword business hadn't been all that calming either. Rin, however, managed to bring a whole new level of trouble with her.

She was important, and therefore he would protect her and that in itself was problematic.

To be honest, he had been surprised when he'd learned just how strong the desire to protect her was. He didn't even have to think about it. If she was in danger, he saved her. That's it. It was that simple.

That being said, it _did_ take a lot of effort to keep the girl safe. She had an impeccable talent of getting in trouble. He wasn't quite sure if it was her being human that just made her weak like that or was it just a talent of hers, but that fact was that the minute he turned his back, she was doing something she shouldn't.

And she was so _fragile_! How did humans stay _alive_ in the first place? A fall, wrong food or a small looking wound and that's it! So troubling.

However, those things he could manage. There was logic to it all and things can be learned, handled and prevented.

Like so:

**1**. He didn't get her food anymore. He left that to her. She managed to feed herself just fine on her own and that one time he had brought her something, she had felt compelled to eat it and that had led to a fiasco that was apparently called "food poisoning" according to the woman who travelled with his half-witted brother. Well, one learns, and thus Rin did both feeding and eating.

**2**. The falling. That was a big problem. She was very prone to falling. Up until now he had always been there to catch her but one of these days he might not get to her in time. So preventive measures had to be taken. No climbing. No cliffs, big trees, big cracks, going up too high or in fact anything that might result into falling. Also, she always had to be accompanied with at least one person who could fly. No exceptions!

**3**. No sharp objects. Absolutely no touching the swords and she had to keep away from all the sharp weapons, claws, sticks, teeth, knives and whatnot that might be lying around.

**4**. All food must first be tested by Jaken. That one was mainly just to his own amusement, though. Rin already knew what she could eat but Jaken really didn't like the same things she did and it was amusing to watch him make faces. Rin also seemed to have fun when this happened so that was good, and really, one could never be too careful.

**5**. Other people are bad. He had always known this, which is why Rin's behavior had first been so bewildering to him. She had a bad habit of trusting _absolutely everyone_. She got kidnapped a lot. So no talking to strange people. He wanted to include that weird monk in the list too but it was already too late for that. He wasn't entirely sure why but the monk gave him an uneasy feeling. The bath incident might've had something to do with it.

**6**. Also, if a demon has blood red eyes, big fangs and is growling, it doesn't necessarily mean that the said demon is "just misunderstood and lonely", it means that the thing is going to kill you, so _do not_ give it flowers to make it happy! Run.

Yes, he was fairly certain that these guidelines would keep the girl alive and protected. He had also developed himself a sixth sense that allowed him to sense whenever she was even near anything remotely dangerous. Something could always pop up.

Like now. Just when he'd thought he had gotten the hang of it all.

Though the real problem was that he didn't exactly _know_ what the problem was.

A little while ago, his small group had gotten a new addition in a form of a young human boy. At first he had been hesitant about allowing another human to follow him but then he had figured that because the boy in question was kept alive by a jewel shard in his neck, Naraku would surely come after it. That would make finding him oh-so-much easier.

Also, that kid wasn't completely useless. He did know how to defend himself, humanely inadequately but effectively enough. Rin seemed to stick with him, too, so that meant more protection for her.

Right?

The boy was surely safer to be around that Jaken, given the stupid imp's past record.

Still, he felt uneasy as he watched them… There he was, playing with Rin. She was laughing and running around, the boy (what was his name again) Kohaku, following. Apparently they were playing some human game that involved certain amount of screaming, running and twirling. Rin had explained it to him but he had to admit that it was far out of his comprehension. The little kitsune seemed to be jumping around them as well until he flew off with Kirara (who he actually liked, probably because she always politely greeted him but never wasted time with useless blabbering).

Uh, now the boy lifted her up and spun around. She seemed to be having fun. So why did he have this sudden urge to kill him?

Perhaps it was the shard. Yes, that's it. He wasn't exactly _living_ in the conventional sense so that probably made his own instincts so tingly. Then again he didn't really care about that sort of things…

But why was she hugging him?!

Surely that wasn't a part of the game!

There was something fishy there, something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Better to keep alert, just on case…

-:-0-:-0-:-0-:-0-:-

-:-0-:-0-:-0-:-0-:-

"Oi! You two! Come have something to eat!" Kagome shouted at the kids as Sango unpacked the food supplies.

Kohaku stopped spinning and put Rin back down. He was a little out of breath. Rin sure liked to run. "Yes, we're coming!" he shouted back and smiled at the girl who was pouting a little. "You're probably already hungry."

"I'm not really all _that_ hungry", Rin said bravely in the same manner all youngsters do when they are in the middle of something fun. Of course her stomach decided to growl _just then_, which was absolutely _mortifying_ because Kohaku heard.

He made sure not to laugh, the little gentleman. "Sure sure, but you know, we can continue playing after we're eaten. The others might get lonely without us."

Rin's eyes widened. "Can we? You promise?"

"Promise", Kohaku nodded and then gave a surprised grunt as the girl suddenly grabbed her hand and started pulling him towards the others.

"Did you have fun?" Kagome asked as they got to them.

"Yup! Really fun!" Rin said with a beaming smile. "Can I first go tell Ah-Un that he can go eat something too? There's a great spot for grass over there", she pointed somewhere to her left.

"Sure thing", Kagome answered and held out a cup of noodles. "Do you want me to make you these?"

"Oh yes, please!" She chirped before bouncing away to the two-headed demon.

Kohaku gave out a sigh and sat down. Sango looked at him amused. "What now, little brother, don't you have enough stamina to play with a kid?" she jested with a wide grin.

"No it's not that", Kohaku shook his head unexpectedly serious. "Where's Inuyasha and Miroku?"

"I send them to get more fire wood", Kagome said, handing him a cup of noodles. "You should have heard the amount of complaints. You'd think they were just a couple of lazy bums with that kind of attitude."

"Is something troubling you, Kohaku?" Sango asked, now a little worried.

"Nah, it's just that…well…do you see Lord Sesshoumaru over there?" Kohaku inclined his head to the point where Sesshoumaru was sitting against a tree quite far from them. He had been sitting there unmoving all the time, arms crossed and a serious expression on his face.

The girls glanced at him carefully so they wouldn't be caught staring. "What about him?"

"Well, lately I feel like he keeps glaring at me…"

Sango was immediately alert. "Do you think you're in danger? Should I do something?"

"No no no! Sis, it's okay. It's just a weird feeling. I don't think he dislikes me or anything. Mainly it's just when I'm playing with Rin. I think he might be worried that I hurt her or something. Do you think it's because, you know, what happened in the past…?"

Sango's face immediately softened. "Oh no, Kohaku. Even Sesshoumaru knows that you were just under Naraku's control back then. Truth be told, if he suspected that you'd do something like that again, you wouldn't be alive", she said, trying to sound reassuring and then realizing what she'd just said. "Of course, then I'd have to kill him and that would be whole new mess so let's try to avoid all the killing, okay?"

Kohaku flashed a quick smile at his stumbling big sister. "Yeah, no killing, I got it. But what do you think it could be then? Is it the shard?"

Kagome shook her head. "He doesn't care about the shards. Never have. I used to think that was the only redeeming quality about him."

"He's probably just generally worried. He's very protective of her. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"Yeah, though I do understand why you'd feel uneasy, that glare of his does carry a lot of weight", Kagome added.

Kohaku sighed again. "No kidding. He lets me watch after her but the closer she gets, the more he glares. And I'm pretty sure he broke a tree last time Rin gave me a good night hug."

Kagome blinked. "Wait, how could he 'break a tree'?"

"Well he was sort of leaning to it and then it just…broke. That was probably just a coincidence. He is very strong."

"Uh-huh", Kagome hummed with a thoughtful expression. Just when she was about to ask something, Rin returned.

"Ah-Un is eating, Jaken still refuses to talk to anyone and is now talking to a rock so all is well and I can join you", she almost sang as she jumped back to them.

"Here you go then, the noodles are ready", Kagome said, handing her the cup.

"Ooooh! This is it, Kohaku, Lady Kagome's worm food! Remember when I told you? Isn't it delicious?"

"Mmm-hmm", Kohaku agreed, mouth full of worms.

"Can I sit next to you?"

Kohaku swallowed. "Of course you can."

And so they sat side by side eating ramen.

Kagome watched them for a while, eating her own bread, but then he happened to glance at Sesshoumaru. She was a little surprised. He was usually very careful to keep himself composed when Inuyasha was around (more or less successfully) but now he was absolutely seething. His hands were tight fists and he was nothing but glaring murderously towards them. Kagome turned her gaze back towards Rin.

Ah. That explained it. Rin had gotten noodles stuck on her face and Kohaku was removing them and thus _touching_ Rin. When they got back to eating Kagome once again glanced at Sesshoumaru. He looked a little bit more relaxed.

Hmm… Rin was still so young and this was already happening. It really must be hard to have a daughter, Kagome thought. What on earth would happen when she grew up?

She could see turbulent clouds looming in the future…

And then she laughed.

-:-0-:-0-:-0-:-

-:-0-:-0-:-0-:-

_A/N: So yeah, it's been awhile. If you must know, the reason is simple: Law School. That horrid existence that sucks souls and leaves empty shells. I'm currently trying to avoid studying and thus this story was born. It's not like I **deliberately** watched Inuyasha episodes or anything, the internet accidentally turned it on and... well y'know... hehehe_

_Good to see you all again, yeah? ^^_

_Love, Val_


End file.
